Page 705 - Atlas of Creation Volume 4

Harun Yahya

For some one who un der stands that the whole world con sists of shad ow en ti ties and that on ly our
Almighty Lord has ab so lute ex is tence, en joy ment of this world will lose all mean ing. In the face of
events he im ag ines to be the most fright en ing or dis tress ing, that per son’s en tire per spec tive will
change, be cause ev ery thing con sists of il lu so ry en ti ties and events and cre at ed through our Lord’s

will.
Just as the troub les, dif fi cul ties and woes in our dreams lose all sig nif i cance when we awak en,
the events, sor rows and troub les of this shad ow world are sim i lar ly triv i al. The life of this world is
sim ply a part of the test cre at ed for us, and our re spon si bil i ty is to dem on strate the mor al vir tues and

good manners most pleas ing to Allah in the face of these. In the Hereafter, the im ag i nary im a ges cre -
at ed with in this test will lose their mean ings and im por tance. What re main s will be the good works
per formed in or der to ob tain Allah’s ap prov al. Whether or not a per son re al izes this now, when the
life of the Hereafter be gins, he will cer tain ly un der stand that ev ery thing in the world con sists of an

il lu sion and that the re al i ty is our Lord and the Hereafter cre at ed by Him.
This is re vealed in a verse:
The life of this world is noth ing but a game and a di ver sion. The abode of the Hereafter—that is tru ly
Life, if they on ly knew. (Qur’an, 29:64)

When one watch es a tel e vi sion screen, one is aware that all the char ac ters in it are en tire ly fic ti -
tious. There is no need to feel an ger at what they do or sor row at what hap pens to them. In the same
way, one should not fall in to a sim i lar er ror in the life of this world. That is because, just like a tel e -

vi sion pro gram, the life of this world con sists of im a ges laid out con stant ly be fore us. In the same
way that some one who is dream ing be comes an gry or is sad dened by what be falls him in that dre-
am, but re al iz es when he wakes that all this was com plete ly il lu so ry, the same ap plies to the life of
this world. Sooner or lat er, ei ther in this world or in the Hereafter, one will re al ize that one nev er has

di rect con tact with the out side world, and that all on e’s wor ries are com plete ly mean ing less.
These im a ges are cre at ed sole ly as a test. What mat ters is to re al ize that they are in deed fic ti tious
and to be have in a man ner com pat i ble with Allah’s ap prov al and to live for that pur pose. Allah has
re vealed in His vers es that this world, con sist ing sole ly of im a ges for us, has been cre at ed mere ly as

a test:
To man kind, the love of world ly ap pe tites is paint ed in glow ing col ors: wom en and chil dren, and heap -
ed-up mounds of gold and sil ver, and hors es with fine mark ings, and live stock and fer tile farm land. All
that is mere ly the en joy ment of the life of this world. The best home com ing is in the Presence of Allah.
(Qur’an, 3:14)

Know that the life of this world is mere ly a game and a di ver sion and os ten ta tion and a cause of boast ing
among your selves and try ing to out do one an oth er in wealth and chil dren: like the plant-growth aft er rain
which de lights the cul ti va tors, but then it with ers and you see it turn ing yel low, and then it be comes bro -
ken stub ble. In the Hereafter, there is ter ri ble pun ish ment but al so for give ness from Allah and His good
pleas ure. The life of this world is noth ing but the en joy ment of de lu sion. (Qur’an, 57:20)

The po si tion of those who im ag ine that the life of this world is the gen u ine one is re vealed in the
Qur’an:

But the ac tions of those who dis be lieve are like a mi rage in the desert. A thirsty man thinks it is wa ter but
when he reach es it, he finds it to be noth ing at all, but he finds Allah there. He will pay him his ac count
in full. Allah is swift at reck on ing. (Qur’an, 24:39)
When peo ple un der stand that the things they im ag ine they pos sess in this world are ac tu al ly il -

lu so ry, they will re al ize that they have har bored sor rows and de sires for noth ing. They have wast ed
their time and at tached need less im por tance to ma te ri al wants and de sires. They will re al ize that the
peo ple they im ag ined to be so im por tant are ac tu al ly il lu so ry en ti ties and that their pride is mean -
ing less. They will un der stand that all things must bow their heads to Allah, Who has cre at ed them
all, and thus they will live hap pi er, more peace ful lives. They will be freed from hav ing to prove

them selves to oth ers, wor ry ing about the kind of im pres sion they give, and such neg a tive emo tions

Adnan Oktar 703